Dual Championship Hopes Alive

[ctbro1999]

No doubt. I don’t watch much women’s basketball but she might be the best scorer I’ve seen, Clark included.

And she's only a frosh. Physically, she looks like she could go pro right now.

 

[NJHusky]

As for the injuries another poster made the comment that injuries are much more common in the women’s game. Almost always ACL’s, interesting as I would think core injuries would be more common. I wonder why this is such an issue with women. I mean a very high percentage of women players go down with this injury. It is not getting better although the medical improvements have been immense and allows these athletes to get back to playing in less than a year. the back of my mind well after I was fully healed.

It’s body geometry/physics. Women have thinner ligaments and I also remember reading somewhere that the opening in the knee where the ligament passes is smaller so easier to rupture when they put so much stress on it.

 

[TMB4405]

No doubt. I don’t watch much women’s basketball but she might be the best scorer I’ve seen, Clark included.

Very happy we won. I was impressed with the USC freshman. She was a little rushed at times particularly in crunch time but i think you will see her really upping her game with a little more experience at this level. She also has the size and athleticism to become the best player in the sport in a year or two.

 

[Mr. French]

No doubt. I don’t watch much women’s basketball but she might be the best scorer I’ve seen, Clark included.

She’s the smoothest offensive player out there. Her release isn’t as quick as Clark, yet, but her range and size and craftiness on offense is next level.

Paige and Nika are two of only a few things who can keep her under 30. Her shot selection and teammates’ shot selection are 2 others.

 

[Mr. French]

PS Paige and her defense are BOTH underrated at this point. Shes a killer with the ball and her decision making, but she’s also great on D and on the boards.

 

[Tenspro2002]

She’s the smoothest offensive player out there. Her release isn’t as quick as Clark, yet, but her range and size and craftiness on offense is next level.

Paige and Nika are two of only a few things who can keep her under 30. Her shot selection and teammates’ shot selection are 2 others.

I know it goes against conventional wisdom to put your best offensive player on their best player, but I would absolutely have Bueckers on Clark.

 

[ctbro1999]

I know it goes against conventional wisdom to put your best offensive player on their best player, but I would absolutely have Bueckers on Clark.

It's what the fans will want (and TV execs), that's for sure.

 

[Waquoit]

No, you gave the wrong answer. It was a grievance question. You were supposed to answer because we were screwed by the Committee.

They were. Sending them to Portland when they could have easily been in Albany.

 

[Mr. French]

I know it goes against conventional wisdom to put your best offensive player on their best player, but I would absolutely have Bueckers on Clark.

Paige is awesome on D too. I agree you gotta basically face guard her.

 

[CL82]

I don’t know how Geno does it with the officiating in the women’s game, Hurley would’ve had to be thrown in jail lol.

 

[Verne]

Curious why UConn was favored in the game when they were the 3 seed and USC was the 1 seed? Is the women's selection committee worse than the men's

While there aren't as many analytics on the women's side as the men's the uconn women were top 5 in most of the good metrics for the women's side. They were underseeded as a 3.

Also the team collectively had a lot more experience than USC and a huge coaching edge. Geno coached circles around USCs coach in the 2nd half. Muhl and Arnold picked up their 4th fouls early in the 3rd quarter and neither fouled out and Muhl never came out of the game.

Also just in general lines aren't as tight on the women's side as men's cause there's less data to go off of.

 

[Verne]

First time I saw JuJu last night - she is a baller.

She's insane. Like I don't think people realize how rare a 6'2 guard with near 6'5 wingspan with her athleticism. That's a LeBron James type physique on the women's side. Angel Reese is 6'3. Just an absolute freak athletically and obviously has the shot making to back it up. If she stays healthy she could beat all of Clark's records.

 

[HuskyNan]

It’s body geometry/physics. Women have thinner ligaments and I also remember reading somewhere that the opening in the knee where the ligament passes is smaller so easier to rupture when they put so much stress on it.

It’s not all knee injuries.

Jana El Alfy (6-4 freshman) - torn Achilles tendon
Azzi Fudd (5-11 junior) - ACL
Ayanna Patterson (6-2 sophomore) - recurring patellar tendinitis
Caroline Ducharme (6-2 junior) - concussions/neck/back
Aubrey Griffin (6-1 senior, our Andre Jackson) - ACL
Amari DeBerry (6-6 junior) - concussion

 

[Scoe]

Paige could pull an Eli on an undefeated South Carolina team.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

PS Paige and her defense are BOTH underrated at this point. Shes a killer with the ball and her decision making, but she’s also great on D and on the boards.

She added shot-blocking this season, more than doubling her previous career average, and nearly doubling her overall 2023-24 average in BE and NCAA Tournament play.

As a frosh, she first wowed everyone with her passing and point guard skills, averaging nearly 6 assists per game.

 

[NJHusky]

It’s not all knee injuries.

Jana El Alfy (6-4 freshman) - torn Achilles tendon
Azzi Fudd (5-11 junior) - ACL
Ayanna Patterson (6-2 sophomore) - recurring patellar tendinitis
Caroline Ducharme (6-2 junior) - concussions/neck/back
Aubrey Griffin (6-1 senior, our Andre Jackson) - ACL
Amari DeBerry (6-6 junior) - concussion

Thx Nan…poster I was replying was asking about Acls

 

[Inyatkin]

So much attention on Iowa and LSU that South Carolina has somehow gone under the radar even though they're undefeated. If UConn wins it would likely be by taking out three straight top seeds. Would be insane.

 

[superjohn]

So much attention on Iowa and LSU that South Carolina has somehow gone under the radar even though they're undefeated. If UConn wins it would likely be by taking out three straight top seeds. Would be insane.

Caitlin Clark has been amazing for the women's game but her and to a lesser extent the drama surrounding Angel Reese sucked up all the oxygen in the sport. I never even heard Paige Bueckers name all season until now and she's one of the best players ever. South Carolina barely gets a mention and they're undefeated with only 1 loss in two seasons.

 

[Slipperman]

The women gutted out a win over #1 seed USC, setting up a Final Four matchup with Iowa.

Once again, both men's and women's teams are in the Final Four with a chance for a third dual championship (for completeness, NC State has a shot at it too).

There are remarkable similarities to the last time we had a chance to do this, in 2014, but in this case a mirror image.

It is now the women who are getting by on defense, toughness, and transcendent play by a senior leader. It is the men who are playing like one of the greatest teams in history, with a suffocating defense and an elite, modern offense that is remaking the sport.

Here's to an interesting weekend.

UConn is actually due for dual - 04, 14, 24? every ten years (sorry if this was mentioned already).

 

[UConniki]

I’m really of two minds as to how miraculous this run to the FF is. Yes, we have no depth and little height, and I thought the defensive game plan last night was both well thought out and well executed.

On the other hand, we have two starters who project to be WNBA stars and a supporting cast around them that could have gone to most any college they wanted to. If this was a men’s team and you had a transcendent star like Page and a great talent like Edwards, wouldn’t you be expected to be really good?

3 players played the whole 40minutes. That’s extremely hard to do. And they have had trouble closing out games in the 4th quarter because of fatigue. They gutted it out last night in shear determination and Paige Beckers is a generational player who’s incredibly knowledgeable about playing basketball. She lead the team in scoring, rebounds and blocked shots when Edward’s missed the last two games of the Big East Conference tournament. There’s no one quite like her in the women’s game. And she’s coming back for another year.

 

[UConniki]

It’s not all knee injuries.

Jana El Alfy (6-4 freshman) - torn Achilles tendon
Azzi Fudd (5-11 junior) - ACL
Ayanna Patterson (6-2 sophomore) - recurring patellar tendinitis
Caroline Ducharme (6-2 junior) - concussions/neck/back
Aubrey Griffin (6-1 senior, our Andre Jackson) - ACL
Amari DeBerry (6-6 junior) - concussion

And Fudd was the #1 ranked player in her class and Paige’s best friend, Caroline was a top 5 player in her class ( we recruited her brother ) Aubrey wa a top 10 player in hs. So they’re not just reserves. Paige said “ there’s 70 points and a lot of rebounds sitting on that bench”.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Juju is the closest thing I’ve seen to Durant in the women’s game. She was incredible

 

[Mike Honcho]

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I don't watch much of the women but I did last night. Geno seemed pretty subdued all evening, even when the refs were making outrageously terrible calls.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Juju is the closest thing I’ve seen to Durant in the women’s game. She was incredible

Breanna Stewart is the women's version of Durant.

 

[UConn Esq]

I’ll be in Phoenix this weekend (as many are i assume)… anyone know of a game watch in Phoenix happening Friday for the women’s game?